Public Order Act 2023
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Public Order Act 2023
2023 Chapter 15
An Act to make provision for new offences relating to public order; to make provision about stop and search powers; to make provision about the exercise of police functions relating to public order; to make provision about proceedings by the Secretary of State relating to protest-related activities; to make provision about serious disruption prevention orders; and for connected purposes.
[02 May 2023]
e it enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part 1
Public order
Offences relating to locking on
1 Offence of locking on
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a)
(a) they—
(i) attach themselves to another person, to an object or to land,
(ii) attach a person to another person, to an object or to land, or
(iii) attach an object to another object or to land,
(b)
(b) that act causes, or is capable of causing, serious disruption to—
(i) two or more individuals, or
(ii) an organisation,
in a place other than a dwelling, and
(c)
(c) they intend that act to have a consequence mentioned in paragraph (b) or are reckless as to whether it will have such a consequence.
(2) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) to prove that they had a reasonable excuse for the act mentioned in paragraph (a) of that subsection.
(3) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the maximum term for summary offences, to a fine or to both.
(4) In subsection (3), “” means—
(a)
(a) if the offence is committed before the time when section 281(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (alteration of penalties for certain summary offences: England and Wales) comes into force, six months;
(b)
(b) if the offence is committed after that time, 51 weeks.
(5) In this section “” means—
(a)
(a) a building or structure which is used as a dwelling, or
(b)
(b) a part of a building or structure, if the part is used as a dwelling,
and includes any yard, garden, grounds, garage or outhouse belonging to and used with a dwelling.
2 Offence of being equipped for locking on
(1) A person commits an offence if they have an object with them in a place other than a dwelling with the intention that it may be used in the course of or in connection with the commission by any person of an offence under section 1(1) (offence of locking on).
(2) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine.
(3) In this section “” has the same meaning as in section 1.
Offences relating to tunnelling
3 Offence of causing serious disruption by tunnelling
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a)
(a) they create, or participate in the creation of, a tunnel,
(b)
(b) the creation or existence of the tunnel causes, or is capable of causing, serious disruption to—
(i) two or more individuals, or
(ii) an organisation,
in a place other than a dwelling, and
(c)
(c) they intend the creation or existence of the tunnel to have a consequence mentioned in paragraph (b) or are reckless as to whether its creation or existence will have such a consequence.
(2) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) to prove that they had a reasonable excuse for creating, or participating in the creation of, the tunnel.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), a person is to be treated as having a reasonable excuse for the purposes of that subsection if the creation of the tunnel was authorised by a person with an interest in land which entitled them to authorise its creation.
(4) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable—
(a)
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the general limit in a magistrates’ court, to a fine or to both;
(b)
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, to a fine or to both.
(5) For the purposes of this section—
(a)
(a) “” means an excavation that extends beneath land, whether or not—
(i) it is big enough to permit the entry or passage of an individual, or
(ii) it leads to a particular destination;
(b)
(b) an excavation which is created with the intention that it will become or connect with a tunnel is to be treated as a tunnel, whether or not—
(i) any tunnel with which it is intended to connect has already been created, or
(ii) it is big enough to permit the entry or passage of an individual.
(6) References in this section to the creation of an excavation include—
(a)
(a) the extension or enlargement of an excavation, and
(b)
(b) the alteration of a natural or artificial underground feature.
(7) This section does not apply in relation to a tunnel if or to the extent that it is in or under a dwelling.
(8) In this section “” has the same meaning as in section 1 (offence of locking on).
4 Offence of causing serious disruption by being present in a tunnel
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a)
(a) they are present in a relevant tunnel having entered it after the coming into force of this section,
(b)
(b) their presence in the tunnel causes, or is capable of causing, serious disruption to—
(i) two or more individuals, or
(ii) an organisation,
in a place other than a dwelling, and
(c)
(c) they intend their presence in the tunnel to have a consequence mentioned in paragraph (b) or are reckless as to whether their presence there will have such a consequence.
(2) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) to prove that they had a reasonable excuse for their presence in the tunnel.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), a person (“”) is to be treated as having a reasonable excuse for the purposes of that subsection if P’s presence in the tunnel was authorised by a person with an interest in land which entitled them to authorise P’s presence there.
(4) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable—
(a)
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the general limit in a magistrates’ court, to a fine or to both;
(b)
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, to a fine or to both.
(5) For the purposes of this section—
(a)
(a) “” means an excavation that extends beneath land, whether or not it leads to a particular destination;
(b)
(b) an excavation which is created with the intention that it will become or connect with a tunnel is to be treated as a tunnel, whether or not any tunnel with which it is intended to connect has already been created.
(6) In this section “” means a tunnel that was created for the purposes of, or in connection with, a protest (and it does not matter whether an offence has been committed under section 3 in relation to the creation of the tunnel).
(7) References in this section to the creation of an excavation include—
(a)
(a) the extension or enlargement of an excavation, and
(b)
(b) the alteration of a natural or artificial underground feature.
(8) This section does not apply in relation to a tunnel if or to the extent that it is in or under a dwelling.
(9) In this section “” has the same meaning as in section 1 (offence of locking on).
5 Offence of being equipped for tunnelling etc
(1) A person commits an offence if they have an object with them in a place other than a dwelling with the intention that it may be used in the course of or in connection with the commission by any person of an offence under section 3(1) or 4(1) (offences relating to tunnelling).
(2) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the maximum term for summary offences, to a fine or to both.
(3) In subsection (2), “” means—
(a)
(a) if the offence is committed before the time when section 281(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (alteration of penalties for certain summary offences: England and Wales) comes into force, six months;
(b)
(b) if the offence is committed after that time, 51 weeks.
(4) In this section “” has the same meaning as in section 1 (offence of locking on).
Offences involving works and infrastructure
6 Obstruction etc of major transport works
(1) A person commits an offence if the person—
(a)
(a) obstructs the undertaker or a person acting under the authority of the undertaker—
(i) in setting out the lines of any major transport works,
(ii) in constructing or maintaining any major transport works, or
(iii) in taking any steps that are reasonably necessary for the purposes of facilitating, or in connection with, the construction or maintenance of any major transport works, or
(b)
(b) interferes with, moves or removes any apparatus which—
(i) relates to the construction or maintenance of any major transport works, and
(ii) belongs to a person within subsection (5).
(2) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) to prove that—
(a)
(a) they had a reasonable excuse for the act mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of that subsection, or
(b)
(b) the act mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of that subsection was done wholly or mainly in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute.
(3) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the maximum term for summary offences, to a fine or to both.
(4) In subsection (3) “” means—
(a)
(a) if the offence is committed before the time when section 281(5) of the Criminal...
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